Building a life-size BB-8 droid is easier than it sounds

Make your own bigger, cheaper droid

According to 17-year-old Angelo Casimiro, all you need is a trip to the hardware store and about $120 for mainly an Arduino Uno microcontroller board, some wheels, a beach ball, other household items and a few days to get your hands dirty.

After some soldering, papier-mâché and making your own rechargeable batteries, Casimiro's tutorial on Instructables proves that building your own droid isn't rocket science.

The end result is quite impressive, and you can control your BB-8 droid using a smartphone.